Educational device



May 7, 1940. R. M. MYERS EDUCATIONAL DEVICE Fild July 22, 1959Sheets-Sheet 1 4. ZWI V ZWWWAYAQVQVAV/ Raymond, MM ye KS mm v May 7,1940. MYERS EDUCATIONAL DEVICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 22, 1939 y 7,1940- R. M. MYERS 2.200.200

' EDUCATIONAL DEVICE Filed July 22, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Ir fiCD'. 6.

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May 7; 1940.

mRYMUTIMMn Q6 ifa ymond M M3 Mormon;

Patented May 7, 1940 UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE Claims.

This invention consists of an educational device which is especiallyadapted for use in teaching spelling and to which I have applied thearbitrary name "Spellucator.

It is, of course, well known in this art to utilize apparatus of variousmiscellany as an aid to teaching various subjects, including spelling,and the present invention is designed as an improvement. over the priorart .devices. After much experiment, I have found that a practicalcompact electro-mechanical machine can be produced for the teaching ofspelling by the association of objects with words, the machine beingoperable even by a child of tender age, without possibility oi injury tothe child or damage to the machine.

Another object of my invention is to provide a teaching apparatus ofthis character which is flexible to permit use of the same in spellingwords or in arranging indicia in predetermined combinations for thepurpose of displaying a,

characteristic of a depicted object in the apparatus, the depictedobject being illustrated on removable cards or the like, each of thecards having contact combinations complementing contacts in theapparatus, all of the contacts being in electrical communication andincluding suitable signal means whereby either a visible or audiblesignal, or both, may be given when a predetermined combination ofletters or other indicia has been assembled in proper sequence for thepurpose of spelling or otherwise exhibiting a characteristic of theobject depicted.

Other objects of the invention will be manifest from the followingdescription of the present preferred form of the invention, taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is aperspective view of an educational apparatus constructed in accordancewith my invention, i

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of the same,

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the apparatus, a portion thereof being brokenaway to disclose details of the mechanism within the apparatus casing,

Fig. 4 is a detail fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 4-4 ofFig. 3, locking in the direction of the arrows, showing to advantage themanner of mounting one of the alphabetical belts in the casing and themeans employed for operating the belt,

Fig. 5is a fragmentary perspective view showing one of the contactrollers and its frame,

Fig. 6 is a plan view of one of the teaching cards employed in thepresent invention,

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on the line 1-1 ofFig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows, Fig. 8 is a detailfragmentary sectional view taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. 6, looking inthe direction of the arrows, and

Fig. 9 is a diagrammatical view of the electrical circuits employed inthe present form of the invention- This invention includes a casing orhousing l0 having an inclined top II, the latter being pro- 1 vided witha series of longitudinally extending slots l2 and a plurality ofopenings I3, each of the openings lying adjacent one of the slots l2 ata point approximately midway the terminals of the latter. The casingincludes an exhibiting 15 compartment l4, the top l5 of which is ofarcuate conformation and equipped with suitable lighting means It. Thefront of the compartment I4 is open, as indicated at H, the apex of thecompartment being provided with a transverse slot I8 20 for a purposewhich will be hereinafter described. Directly in back of the opening I1,I have mounted a plate I9, the upper end of which engages the inner wallof the top of the compartment immediately in back of the slot l8, thelower end 25 of the plate being supported by a casing carried bar 20.The floor 2| of the compartment 14 extends from the upper end of saidtop H rearwardly to a point just short of the front face of the plate I9thereby providing a space between the rear margin of said floor and saidplate l9 which space complements the slot l8, in the top of thecompartment M, for a purpose which will be also hereinafter described.If desired a combination bracing and guide rib 22 may be mount- 36 ed ontop of the floor 2| at the rear margin of the latter.

Beneath the casing top H, and in proximity thereto, I provide pulleys23, one pulley being positioned at approximately the terminal of each 0slot l2, as shown to advantagein Fig. 2. Each pair of pulleys carries anendless alphabetical belt 24. As the belts are trained around thepulleys 23, the letters of the alphabet, or other indicia employed, willappear beneath the openings I3 45 in the casing top H.

For the purpose of moving the belts 24, I pro- .vide handles 25, theinner end of each of which is reduced and extends through one of theslots for engagement with a cross bar 26. One of the cross 50 bars isfastened to each belt, the terminals of the bar riding in complementalgrooves formed in casing carried guides 21.

Each of the bars 26 supports a roller bearing frame 28, one end 29 ofthe latter being reversely folded and detachably engaged with the innerend of one of the handles through the bar 26. By reversely folding thepart 29 of the frame, a contact roller 30, carried by each of theframes, is held in yieldable engagement with contacts 3|, the latterbeing arranged in parallel rows on a contact board 32, as illustrated toadvantage in Figs. 3 and 4.

The contacts 3| are wired, as indicated at 33, to corresponding contacts34 carried by a panel 35. The panel 35 extends downwardly between thebottom wall of the floor 2| and the upper face of the bar 20, thecontacts 34 lying parallel to the plate l9- In Fig. 6, I have shown anobject depicting card 36 which may be of oblong configuration, the upperportion thereof being devoted to the illustration of an object 31, whilethe lower part is provided with contacts, generally designated 38, thesecontacts being grouped in pairs and connected by wires 39, which may beembedded in the card 36. The upper margin of the card may be formed toprovide a handle 40 to facilitate engagement of the card in and removalof the card from the slot 18 in the exhibiting compartment l4. When thelower end of the card 36 is deposited in the slot l8, .it is permittedto gravitate downwardly against the front wall of the plate I9 until thecontacts 36 impinge the contacts 34 of the panel 35,

The object depicting card 36 stands out in relief in the exhibitingcompartment I 4 directly back of the opening I I in the front wall ofsaid compartment. The handles 25 are manipulated until the propercombination of letters, which spell the name of the object 31, appear inthe openings I3. At this time the contact rollers of each belt isbridging over a pair of the contacts 3! which are in circuit withcertain of the contacts 34 and 38, through a source of energy 4|. Whenthe circuit is closed the lamp l6 in the exhibiting compartment islighted thereby illuminating the object 31. At the same time a buzzer42, also mounted in the electrical circuit, and shown in Fig. 9, will beoperated. In this way a child spelling a word through the association ofobjects will be both visually and auricularly apprised of the correctspelling of the object depicted in the exhibiting compartment.

Of course, it is to be understood that almost any conceivablecombination of letters may be employed for spelling various wordsregardless of the number of letters going to make up the same. Thepresent apparatus which is shown only to-illustrate the application ofthe invention, is adapted for use in spelling words of not less thanthree or more than five letters.

The specific operation of the invention for spelling the word cat, a catbeing the object depicted, is as follows. The handle in the first columnon the left is operated until the letter 0" appears in terminal opening13, in the extreme left side of the casing 10. This closes the circuit43 carrying current to the parallel carrying contact 44 which contactengages the complemental card contact 45, the latter being connected tocontact 46 through one of the concealed wire strands 39. Contact 46impinges one of the group of contacts 34 which impinged contact, I havein Fig. 7, designated as 41. The contact 41 is connected with the secondalphabetical series, designated 48. When the second letter 0 ithe word,namely, a is brought beneath the opening [3, the a circuit is closedcarrying the current to another of the group 34 of contacts, this beingindicated at 49, the latter impinging against card contact 50. Cardcontact 5| connected by another concealedcontact wire 39 to the contact50 impinges contact 52 of the panel group 34 of contacts and current iscarried to the third alphabetical series, as indicated at 53. Thecircuit 53 is closed by placing the letter "t beneath the third row ofopenings l3. In this way current is conducted to contact 54 whichimpinges card contact 55, the latter being connected to contact 56 byanother of the concealed wires 33. The contact 56 engages contact 51 tocarry current to the fourth alphabetical series at point concealed wires39. Contact 6| engages contact 62the latter being electricallysconnectedto the fifth alphabetical series at point 63, which is closed by reasonof a blank space appearing be-,

neath the fifth and last of the openings l3. Consequently by closing thecontact point at 63 the entire circuit is closed to efiect the resultsalready enumerated herein.

While I have herein shown and described a preferred form of myinvention, it is nevertheless to be understood that various changes maybe made therein within the scope of the claims hereto appended.

What is claimed is:

1. An educational device including a casing equipped with a pluralityofindicia bearing movable belts, an object depicting member mounted in thecasing, and signal means in electrical communication with said memberand belts, said means operating when a predetermined combination ofindicia, representative of a characteristic of the depicted object,appears in a predetermined position in the casing.

2. An educational device including a casing equipped with a plurality ofindicia bearing movable belts, the casing having openings therein tosingly display the belt indicia, an object depicting member mounted inthe casing, means engaged with each belt for operating same toexpose apredetermined combination of indicia in the casing openings, saidcombination of indicia being representative of a characteristic of thedepicted object, signal means associated with said casing, and anelectricalcircuit including said belts, casing and member, the circuitbeing closed to operate the signal when the indicia appear in propersequence in the casing openings.

3. An educational device including a casing equipped with indiciabearing movable belts, means for operating the belts to urge the indiciainto a predetermined sequence, -object depicting means engageable issaidcasing, a signal, said casing belt operating means, depicting meansand signal being in electrical communication, the electrical circuitbeing closed when the indicia are in proper sequence to disclose apredetermined characteristic of the object depicted.

4.- An educational device comprising a casing, object depicting cardssingly mountable in the casing, indicia bearing supports movably mountedin the casing and susceptible of arrangement in a predetermined sequenceto combinedly exhibit a characteristic of the object depicted, anelectrical circuit including the casing, cards and indicia, electricalcontacts on said casing, cards and indicia, and a signal in saidcircuit, the signal being operable upon engagement of the card throughoperation of the indicia, the contacts of the latter being in circuitwith said casing contacts.

5. An educational device including a casing equipped with movable rowsof indicia hearing supports, object depicting cards selectivelymountable in the casing, means mounted in the casing and engaged withthe rows of indicia to operate the latter for arranging the indicia inappropriate sequence to spell the name of the object depicted, and meansoperatively connected to the indicia and cards to give a signal upon theconsummation of the appropriate sequence of the indicia.

RAYMOND M. MYERS.

